Renewed Covenant, Renewed Humanity: Parashat Ki Tissa Reflections

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A midrash states that in the future, after the Mashiyach appears, every tzaddik’s face will shine like Moses’s face, though not all in equal radiance. Some will have the brightness of the sun, some of the moon, others like the stars, and some only like that of a candle.

And He said, “See, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I am going to do wonders such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of יהוה. For what I am doing with you is awesome.

Exodus 34.10

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This week Torah portion, ki tissa, opens with the idea of a lifting up, or taking a head count of the Israelites of a certain age for the purpose of a national census. Profoundly, the census that was taken was largely tied to the atonement of the souls of the people. This was related to the half-shekel offering by the nation for the completion of the Tabernacle. Interestingly, the word tissa come from the Hebrew root word nasa (נָשָׂא) which has as one of its many meanings to take the sum of those present. In addition, the word also carries the meaning of the result of a quantum of souls whose reality was to be quantized, or transitioned from a lower state of being to a higher. This was to be a process of elevation, or a lifting up, of the peoples consciousness by means of the process of involution, which is an inner transformation of the soul, so as guided by the Torah now that the Tabernacle and the priesthood had been implemented into Israel’s social order.

What’s more about the word nasa is that it carries with it the idiom that the determination [and] expressive will of wisdom, [symbolized by] fire [which] caus[es] things to rise and expand. This is because what a census implies is the process of undertaking of an assessment, appraisal, valuation, or even a judgment of society for the purpose of taking the necessary steps to arrive at a more profound qualitative reality based on the potentialities of what is present in substance and form.

Interestingly, the English word census is a past participle of its Latin root word censere which refers to an office of a Roman magistrate who took censuses and oversaw public morals. In fact, Etymoline provides this background information to the origin of the word census and the office of censere;

There were two of them at a time in classical times, usually patricians, and they also had charge of public finances and public works. Transferred sense of “officious judge of morals and conduct” in English is from 1590s. Roman censor also had a transferred sense of “a severe judge; a rigid moralist; a censurer.”

In this week’s portion, we discover that the two Yisraelite officers in the role of the censere were none other than Moshe and Yahoshua ben Nun. Yet it so happened that when these two were away receiving the oracles of Elohim on the summit of Mt. Sinai, that the people had grown restless and had made a graven image just after they were given the express prohibition against doing such a matter. After being made aware of the people’s gross transgression, Moshe and Yahoshua were told to descend from their elevated status and exact judgment according to the measurement of the offense. While there were about three thousand souls that were struck down as a result of the Golden Calf by the tribe of Lewi, it is worth noting here that Moshe offered up an intercessory prayer for the people of Israel prior to descending the mount in order to preserve the nation, as Elohim had considered annihilating them wholesale. It was this demonstration of Moshe’s selfless compassion which we will discuss in more depth which will come to typify the new humanity and the new covenant. Meanwhile the Sefat Emet says this about Moshe in regards to this ordeal;

In the Midrash: ‘He hurled the tablets from his hands and shattered them’ (Ex. 32:19). Once Moses saw that Israel would not be able to withstand [Elohim’s] wrath at the Golden Calf, he bound his soul to them and smashed the tablets. Then he said to [Elohim]: ‘They have sinned and I have sinned, for I smashed the tablets. If You forgive them, forgive me also,’ as Scripture tells us: ‘Now if You will forgive their sin…then forgive mine as well. But if you do not forgive them, do not forgive me either, but rather wipe me out of Your book that You have written’ (Ex. 32:32)…

The meaning of the matter seems to be this: Torah depends on the preparation of Israel, on the readiness of those who are supposed to receive the Torah. Scripture says that the words were ‘incised (harut) on the tablets’ (Ex. 32:16). The rabbis comment: ‘freedom (herut) from the evil urge, from the Angel of Death, from death itself’ and so forth. But what does ‘incised on the tablets really mean? Only as the light of Torah is engraved and incised on the hearts of Israel are the letters incised on the tablets as well. The real writing is on the heart, of which Scripture says: ‘write them upon the tablet of your heart’ (Prov. 3:3). That is why the letters flew off when Israel sinned.

But Moses our Teacher had not really sinned; he had it in his power to hold on to Torah, as the blessed Holy One said to him: ‘I will make of you a great nation’ (Ex. 32:10). Because he risked his life for the children of Israel and refused to separate himself from them, he and they were truly joined together, not to be divided. Moses loved the whole community of Israel even more than he loved the tablets. He also knew the will of [Elohim], and he knew that Israel were more beloved to [Elohim] than anything. It was for this very reason that the letters flew off the tablets, and that is why he smashed them (for they no longer contained [Elohim’s] word. By this act of joining himself to Israel, Moses in fact redeemed them. Once he and they were united in this way, they did not sin. In the hour when they did sin, he was not with them.

Sefat Emet. pg. 132-133

For the very first time in Scripture, we read of the intimation of a renewed covenant between יהוה and Yisrael. With this unveiling of the new covenant in Exodus 34, we find in addition to this that the revelation of the thirteen attributes of יהוה demonstrates the active principleof the covenant which is to be embodied by Yisrael so as to bring forth the Shekinah of יהוה through the projection of the Spirit from each individual member of the nation of Yisrael. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the thirteen attributes are identified as

(1) “יהוה” compassion before man sins;

(2) “יהוה” compassion after man has sinned;

(3) “El” mighty in compassion to give all creatures according to their need;

(4) “Raḥum” merciful, that mankind may not be distressed;

(5) “Ḥanun” gracious if mankind is already in distress;

(6) “Erek appayim” slow to anger;

(7) “Rab ḥesed” plenteous in mercy;

(8) “Emet” truth;

(9) “Noẓer ḥesed laalaflm” keeping mercy unto thousands;

(10) “Nose ‘awon” forgiving iniquity;

(11) “Nose pesha” forgiving transgression;

(12) “Nose ḥaṭa’ah” forgiving sin;

(13) “Wenaḳeh” and pardoning.

From these thirteen principles we are able to deduce how all of the Yisraelites involved in the sin of the Golden Calf incident were not taken out, but, in fact, spared and given an opportunity to repent of their sin and be restored to the covenant. It is this mercy in the midst of judgment; compassion in the midst of discipline; salvation in the midst of destruction so displayed by יהוה that is intended to inform us how best to exemplify the nature of our Father and King as righteous judges of humanity. The essential prerequisite condition necessary to assume this function, however, is the recreation of a new humanity according to the prophetic standards of the renewed covenant. In addition to this week’s haftarah, we find these standards most clearly articulated by the prophet Jeremiah as he prophetically states

For this is the covenant I shall make with the house of Yisra’ĕl after those days, declares יהוה: I shall put My Torah in their inward parts, and write it on their hearts. And I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people. And no longer shall they teach, each one his neighbor, and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know יהוה,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares יהוה. “For I shall forgive their crookedness, and remember their sin no more.

Jeremiah 31.33-34

The writing of the Torah on our hearts is represented by what Moshe was commanded to do upon his second ascent of Mount Sinai. After the Golden Calf Moshe was instructed this time to carve out a second pair of tablets himself in order to form a writing surface upon which יהוה was to engrave his Torah. This is where we are able to see, in principle, the work required by humanity to receive the Spirit of the Law within our inward parts. For it is our responsibility to prepare the soil of our minds so that the seed of the Torah may take root in our fertile soil and bear fruit even up to one hundred fold.

With the this added dimension on our composition as humans, we are then able to project the Light that יהוה had initially instilled within us, in the form of activated biophotons, in order to reflect the image and likeness in which we were created. This we see fulfilled by the likes of Moshe in this week’s portion as he returned with the second set of tablets as his face was aglow, as well as with Mashiyach Yahoshua ben Yoseph at the Mount of Transfiguration. Of the reality of the quantized transfiguration of humanity, rav Shaul of Tarsus explains to us the mystery of the resurrection,

But someone might say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” Senseless one! What you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And as to what you sow: you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, it might be wheat or some other grain. But Elohim gives it a body as He wishes, and to each seed a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another of fishes, and another of birds. And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the esteem of the heavenly is truly one, and the esteem of the earthly is another, one esteem of the sun, and another esteem of the moon, and another esteem of the stars – for star differs from star in esteem. So also is the resurrection of the dead: it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in disrespect, it is raised in esteem; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body; there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it has been written, “The first man Aḏam became a living being,” the last Aḏam a life-giving Spirit. The spiritual, however, was not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, earthy; the second Man is the Master from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the likeness of the earthy, we shall also bear the likeness of the heavenly. And this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood is unable to inherit the reign of Elohim, neither does corruption inherit incorruption. See, I speak a secret to you: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible has to put on incorruption, and this mortal to put on immortality.

I Corinthians 15.35-53

Transcendence is truly possible, and it does not require a contemporary transhumanist experiment to become a reality. For it is of a certainty that our ancestors were ancient cosmonauts who were able to travel the universe beyond space and time in vehicles of consciousness as a result of developing an affinity with our heavenly Father and King. This is all a matter of manifesting the Messianic reality of Israel which is simply a matter of directly experiencing and internalizing the fulfillment of the renewed covenant. This principle is one that should be intrinsically and genetically encoded in the hearts and minds of all of faithful and true Yisrael. What is not always evident, however, is the spiritual and mental death that we must undergo in order to assume the resurrection from our state of spiritual and mental death.

It was, in truth, according to the prophetic fulfillment of the time of his appearance, Yahoshua ben Yoseph, the Messiah of Israel, who was the first individual able to fulfill this reality by accomplishing the perfection of the Torah and was therefore allowed to enter the fullness of Life as the firstborn of the resurrection from the dead, which in Hebrew called תחיית המתים. That Yisrael, too, experienced a type of resurrection from the dead after the Golden Calf incident should also be well considered and pondered upon by each Torah centered member of Yisrael. What should be further taken into account is the result of the resurrection, which is a renewed humanity, established in the renewed covenant, intent on serving the Most High in Spirit and Truth according to the halachic letter of the Law. For this is our calling and our purpose as Yisrael, chosen to be the ministers of the Good News in order to lead the world into the resurrection so that humanity will one day soon be able to exist in a renewed heaven and a renewed earth. And we shall do such when we determine in our hearts to assume the responsibility of embracing the Messianic principle so as demonstrated by Yahoshua ben Yoseph. The reason for embracing Yahoshua as Mashiyach is because as Mashiyach and the One who reveals all truth, Yahoshua in us will lead all of humanity into the rebirth in order to bring forth the true nature and true identity of humanity, which is nothing less than the children of Elohim, as it is written,

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of Elohim, to those believing in His Name, who were born, not of blood nor of the desire of flesh nor of the desire of man, but of Elohim. And the Word became flesh and pitched His tent among us, and we saw His esteem, esteem as of an only brought-forth of a father, complete in favor and truth…And out of His completeness we all did receive, and favour upon favour, for the Torah was given through Mosheh – the favour and the truth came through יהושע Messiah.